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Christmas budget calculator
Add up what Christmas will cost, then see what to put aside each payday so it's paid for before it arrives.
Put aside each payday
$163.00 a fortnight
4 paydays left before Christmas, for a $650.00 Christmas.
- Presents
- $300.00
- Food and drink
- $250.00
- Tree, decorations, other
- $100.00
- Christmas total
- $650.00
Paydays counted: Thu, 12 Nov, Thu, 26 Nov, Thu, 10 Dec, Thu, 24 Dec. A payday on Christmas Day is too late to shop with, so it isn't counted. 50 days to go.
KeaBudget can hold this as a Christmas fund and remind you each payday. Set up a Christmas fund →
Pure arithmetic on the numbers you enter · last reviewed October 2026.
Free, no ads, and it runs in your browser: what you type isn't sent to us unless you choose to share or save a result. Spotted a mistake? Let us know.
A Christmas paid for in December, not February
Christmas is the most predictable big bill of the year, and still the one most likely to end up on a credit card. Splitting it across the paydays you have left turns one painful month into a few small, boring amounts.
Start with presents (people times roughly what you spend on each), then food and drink, travel to see family, and the tree and decorations. Set your next payday and how often you're paid, and the calculator counts every payday up to Christmas Eve.
Christmas budget questions, answered
- How much does the average Kiwi spend on Christmas?
- It varies a lot by family, but presents, food and travel add up fast, and much of it lands on a credit card that's still being paid off in February. Rather than aim at an average, add up your own list here: the total is usually bigger than people guess.
- How much should I save each pay for Christmas?
- Your Christmas total divided by the paydays left before it. The calculator counts your actual paydays from the next one, weekly, fortnightly or monthly, and rounds up to the dollar so you're never short.
- Does a payday on Christmas Eve count?
- Yes, money paid on 24 December can still be spent on Christmas. A payday on Christmas Day itself doesn't count: the shops are shut.
- What if I've left it late?
- Then each payday has to carry more, or the list gets shorter. Try lowering the per-person amount or cutting travel to see what fits. Starting earlier next year is the easy fix: on Boxing Day the calculator switches to next Christmas.
- Is my information saved?
- No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. The only thing that ever touches our servers is the URL you generate if you click 'Copy share link'.
Let KeaBudget hold your Christmas fund.
Set Christmas up once as a fund in KeaBudget and it shows what to put aside each pay, how many pays are left, and keeps it out of your safe-to-spend. Free.
Start using KeaBudget →More free tools
Savings Goal Planner →NZ Take-home Pay Calculator →Emergency Fund Calculator →Related reading: How to budget in New Zealand: a simple guide. Or see all our free NZ money calculators.